That Was the Week Vol. 8: February 17th - 21st, 2025
LA Fire Chief removed, Musk's "DOGE Dividend," EU Leaders on Ukraine, and the asteroid headed for Earth
Mayor Bass Fires LA Fire Chief
Los Angeles leadership breakdown ends in removal of LA fire chief after the failed response to Palisades crisis
Mayor Karen Bass was in Ghana when the fires first erupted, while the fire department claims it had warned her office of high risk of an incident
“As time has gone on and there's been a deeper dive and investigations into what happened, it became very apparent that all of the explanations offered by the mayor were wrong. And it was either proven by people in the media, her biggest critics, or people in the fire department,” Jeff Bliss, Pacific Watch
Elon Musk’s “DOGE Dividend” Would Send Checks to Taxpayers
Financial Times reports: “Elon Musk sets up clash with Republican deficit hawks over ‘Doge dividend cheques’”
Musk’s plan would involve redistributing money recovered from so-called waste, fraud, abuse, and reducing the size of the federal workforce
“It's not a good idea. It would be a good idea if we didn't have a deficit. It would be a good idea if the Republicans weren't about to extend the tax cuts, which effectively is giving more money back to Americans by extending the deficit quite dramatically . . . I understand the instinct, and I understand why people like it, but it's not fiscally responsible,” Veronique Derugy, Mercatus Center at George Mason University
Euro Leaders Scramble as Trump Splits on Russia/Ukraine
Putin pushes back on NATO peacekeepers in Ukraine as negotiations continue between US and Russia
Financial Times reports, “US objects to phrase ‘Russian aggression’ in G7 statement on Ukraine”
“If you look at the opinion polls in Europe, there is a quite radical disconnect between the priorities of the political elites when it comes to Ukraine and defense and so forth, and the priorities of the population, which is first the economy, and second migration—and of course, migration especially is driving support for the radical right. So yes, the present governments are caught in a very difficult situation,” Anatol Lieven, Quincy Institute
Asteroid Bennu Could Strike Earth in 2182
John speaks to Dr. Livingston and Prof. Harold Connolly, mission sample scientist for the OSIRIS-REx project, about asteroid’s potential collision course with Earth
“There is a keyhole or a window of which the orbit will take it close to Earth where the Earth's gravity may pull it in. And if it goes through that little keyhole area, then it might go through and be pulled in. It's not a 100% probability of it going into that little area or keyhole that it would be pulled in. So that's the key point. It's not as so simple as is a straight prediction much like the weather is not a straight prediction either,” Harold Connolly, Rowan University
Londinium Chronicles Recap: February 17th, 2025
Germanicus and Gaius discuss potential negotiations between the United States and Russia over the end of the war in Ukraine, along with Elon Musk's DOGE.
Author Interview with Sebastian Smee: February 19th, 2025
Paris in Ruins: Love, Art and the Birth of Impressionism by Sebastian Smee on Amazon
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The views and opinions expressed are those of John Batchelor and guests, and not those of CBS News.